Dr Peter Wilson has been a consultant microbiologist at UCLH since 1990, with responsibility for antibiotic advice, particularly at intensive care units and Heart Hospital. In addition, he is Control of Infection Officer for Camden and Islington. Dr Wilson has considerable research experience in treatment and prevention of MRSA infection and surgical wound infection.


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Anne was elected as Member of Parliament in May 2005.

Anne is married to Graham (who is a doctor) and has four children. She was educated at Haywards Heath Grammar School in Sussex, and trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Anne worked for the NHS for 25 years. Anne has a wide range of experience in the NHS. She has nursed in hospitals, as a district nurse (and yes, with a bicycle!), worked in research and supporting GPs and nurses working in palliative care. She also pioneered a scheme to look after people who were sent home early from hospital. Her last job in the NHS was to give medical advice to councils and housing associations.

She believes that we need people with front line experience of the public sector working in Parliament. Anne believes that as a nurse and working mother, with many years experience in the NHS and local government she brings a fresh approach to politics.

Before being elected as an MP Anne was a borough councillor for five years in Surrey. She was Conservative Group Leader, a member of the South East Regional Assembly, Vice Chairman of the Conservative Medical Society and ran an innovative project in Conservative Central Office on the 2001 general election campaign.

Anne was promoted to the Opposition frontbench by David Cameron in November 2006 as Shadow Minister for Gambling, Licensing and Tourism. In July 2007 she was made Shadow Health Minister. Her Shadow brief includes mental health, long-term illnesses, healthcare associated infections, substance misuse, nursing and maternity.

Presentation: Healthcare Associated Infection: Learning from the Past; Preparing for the Future

The Shadow Health Minister will be looking at what has been done to combat HCAIs, what has been the extent of its success, and what we should do to strengthen the fight against infections.

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Dr Porter is a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust. His special interest is in obstetric anaesthesia and the continual development of maternity services to improve the mother's experience, with a particular focus on managing massive obstetric haemorrhage. He is the chairman of the Local Negotiating Committee at UHCW, and has been a clinical director. He is also an elected member of the BMA Council and Chairman of the Central Consultants and Specialists Committee (CCSC). He was closely involved in negotiating the 2003 consultant contract and between 2006-2009 was the deputy chairman of the CCSC responsible for pay, terms and conditions of service and negotiations.

Presentation: Infection Control – Doing the Right Things

Policy action on controlling healthcare associated infections needs to reconcile three objectives. The NHS needs to take effective action in a field where evidence of policy effectiveness is poor. Government needs to reassure patients and the public that effective action is being taken. Any action must proceed against the background of a substantial sunk investment in the built environment of healthcare facilities. In pulling these together it is essential to act proportionately at all levels and focus on the scientific evidence.

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Ian Taylor is Director of Quest International (UK) and AirManager. Ian has been involved with the development of Quest’s Close Coupled Field Technology (CCFT) active air decontamination since its inception.

During this time Ian has co-ordinated projects, in-house and in collaboration with university departments, approved laboratories, the National Health Service and government. In the process, a great understanding of conventional filter methods was gained, raising concerns with their efficacy, convenience and safety. It was clear that no existing method addressed the problem in its entirety and the aim was to find the complete solution.

All this work led to a revolutionary development – CCFT, which is a contained and safe electrical field that kills, destroys and breaks down airborne pathogens, contaminants and toxins.

Ian’s raison d'etre is to increase institutional and public awareness of this step change technology and how the application can improve the personal environment.

Presentation: Air Decontamination: A Step Change in Duty of Care Provision

By introducing the concepts of air decontamination into a wider arena, Quest would like you to challenge the existing methods of infection control with a view to working smarter.

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Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Professor (Thomas) Hugh Pennington obtained his undergraduate medical degree and PhD from St Thomas' Hospital Medical School in 1962 and 1967, respectively. He spent a year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to the Glasgow Institute of Virology in 1969, where he researched smallpox and other viruses. He was appointed Chair of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen in 1979, remaining in the post until his retirement in 2003.

Outside academia, Professor Pennington is best-known as the Chair of the Pennington Group enquiry into the 1996 Scottish E.coli outbreak. He is currently chairing the Public Inquiry into the 2005 Welsh E.coli outbreak. He has appeared on the British media as an expert on food safety, commenting on other subjects too, such as BSE, MRSA, SARS (Severe Acquired Respiratory Syndrome) and avian flu. He was a founder member of the Scottish Food Advisory Committee, part of the Food Standards Agency. He was also a founder member of the World Food Programme Technical Advisory Group and is the former Vice-Chair of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland – advising the BBC. He was President of the Society for General Microbiology from 2003-2006.

Publications include: When Food Kills (on the topic of BSE, E-coli and public food safety). He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.

Presentation: Microbes Evolve, We Forget



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Vanessa's connection with the Association goes back to 1995. She is a former Chairman of The Patients Association (1999-2002) and after a spell back in mid-Wales, where she lives, now works as Head of Special Projects.
Between 1986 and 1997 she was a lay member and then Chairman of various health authorities in Wales: Dyfed Family Health Services Authority, Dyfed HA and Dyfed Powys HA. She is a former Chairman of the Welsh Association of Health Authorities and Trusts and has been a trustee of carers' and respite organisations. Currently she is a Vice President of Leonard Cheshire Disability.
Having lived for many years in Central London and now Mid-Wales, she believes strongly the NHS must offer access to clinical excellence regardless of postcodes and that politicians have a duty to make tough decisions, not duck them.


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Dr Bharat Patel is a Consultant medical microbiologist for the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Regional Microbiology Network (RMN) and the RMN Lead for Healthcare Associated Infections in London. He has served on review panels for the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, Northern Ireland and Healthcare Inspectorate for Wales, investigating outbreaks of Clostridium difficile in acute hospitals. He is a member of the Clostridium difficile Ribotyping Network (CDRN) which provides a national ribotyping service to the NHS. He is the author of ‘the good practice guide to control Clostridium difficile’, which is used by many trusts and PCTs. He has been an expert advisor to a numerous acute trusts and member of several multidisciplinary peer review groups. He has also provided advice and support to a number of Strategic Health Authorities on HCAI matters. He has organised a series of educational meetings to raise awareness and promote good practice and share experiences on the control of Extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and multiresistant Acinetobacter bamannuii (MRAB). Currently he is sharing HCAI control strategies with care homes staff.


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Derek Butler was a founding member of MRSA Action UK following the loss of his stepfather to MRSA in 2003. Elected to the position of Chair in 2007 he has worked alongside the Department of Health, Health Protection Agency, The National Quality Board, The Improvement Foundation and NHS Hospital Trusts to highlight the issues around the quality and safety of patient care, and the impact of getting it wrong.

He has used his knowledge and experience of working in one of the most regulated industries in the world for health and safety. Working as an apprentice at BAE Systems on Concorde between 1971/76 and then joining British Nuclear Fuels in 1977, he has used his background as an engineer to help families who have been affected by healthcare infections.

Derek has published articles in Public Service Review, workplace Law Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Health Features in Women's Own Magazine, Global Health Magazine and other health journals.


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